How to Conquer the Monster: Stress!

Sitting at the table for the past three hours, and a blank page screaming at you to get your life together, to start writing already, was definitely not helping anyone calm down. Every time you put pen to paper, another project or problem would pop into your head, until you had assignments, people, places, dates, floating around, until all you could think about was slamming your face into the table enough times that everything would leave except for whatever you were actually supposed to be writing about.

That’s right, what you’re dealing with is a very common issue, widely known as stress.

Stress is something that, although horrible, everyone endures throughout their lives. Thankfully, however, there are tons of things we can do to alleviate it until the stressful thing has passed.

First of all, one of the easiest ways to get rid of stress can be to stop whatever is stressing you out, and do something you enjoy. This is basically just to get your mind off of everything and can mean watching a movie for a while or reading a book. Even getting some sleep is a great way to relax and recharge your mind so you can power through anything. Drinking a hot beverage such as tea, and listening to your favorite music can even work too, as long as it’s something you’ll find calming.

Another important way you can reduce stress is, believe it or not, to organize everything that’s causing you to stress out. Putting assignments, dates, and events down in a planner or notebook can help you clear your mind and make everything seem less unattainable. You can also attempt to break down any work you might have, just to make it seem less daunting, and you will probably finish it faster if you know what you plan to do. This can be done by just going over everything and seeing what each homework consists of, and maybe planning each part of what your ideas might be. Getting to the root of the problem and planning it, or going through what you’ll have to do can make everything less overwhelming.

If worse comes to worse, and you can’t seem to overcome the feeling, talking or ranting to a friend can often help as they might be able to offer more ideas on what to do, and they’ll probably prove that you aren’t the only one! Remember that teachers are usually quite understanding too; they might be able to give you ideas on a project if you’re stumped, and if you’re lucky sometimes due dates and presentations can be moved around or extended.

Keep in mind that being stressed is something that everyone has to deal with, and there are always ways to relieve the feeling. Stepping away from the cause of the problem, getting sleep, organizing and talking to someone are all things that can help reduce stress so that you can accomplish whatever has to get done.